


PREQUEL!  Fuck School, Fuck People, Fuck Everything else in the World. Shut Up this isn’t just Teenage Angst, it’s a Way of Life. On the Wings of Rebellion, We Ride and Die Together… God that Sounds so Lame.

by LemonKiwiCandy



Series: That one AU where Minghao delivers pizzas and Hansol is 'not' crush... [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:18:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonKiwiCandy/pseuds/LemonKiwiCandy
Summary: Minghao hated school, just like everyone else but at least he had friends to make things bearable… Until he didn’t.





	PREQUEL!  Fuck School, Fuck People, Fuck Everything else in the World. Shut Up this isn’t just Teenage Angst, it’s a Way of Life. On the Wings of Rebellion, We Ride and Die Together… God that Sounds so Lame.

**Author's Note:**

> Due to a few friends and a few readers wanting to know more about Minghao’s past I decided to make a prequel that goes over Minghao’s high school years to just before the original starts.
> 
> The pacing of this prequel is really weird because I wanted to go over Minghao’s high school years but also make this a “short” oneshot (Which didn’t happen lol), so I split the oneshot into 4 sections. 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, and the years after graduation. I didn’t want this to be a super long fic so I based each year on one or more significant events that took place during that year and summarized a lot. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> In Korea the school year starts in March and the 1st semester ends in July, the 2nd semester starts in August and ends in February. At least that’s what the article I read said. They also have 3 years of high school and graduate at age 18-19. (I don’t even know why out of all the things I want to get somewhat accurate, it’s the goddamn school years.)

**~Year 1~**

Whoever said “things get better” obviously didn’t live a hard life, because things don’t really get better, people just finds ways to escape the harsh reality they live in, even if it’s only for a moment. So it wasn’t necessarily “getting better” but more like avoiding the problem until it went away. At least that’s what Minghao thought as he entered the building for his first day of high school. Minghao and his family had moved to Korea the year before because his Father was offered a high paying job at one of those _‘big’_ companies. Minghao spent the time before the life changing move learning Korean instead of saying goodbye to his friends and he still held it against his parents but he never mentioned it, just left it to fester inside. Minghao had transfer to a middle school nearby and his mother promised him that he would make new, better friends and Minghao foolishly believed her. No one talked to him unless they were forced to by the teachers. God, the teachers were even worse, they talked to him like he was a dumb circus monkey. Sure, Minghao wasn’t good at speaking Korean but that didn’t mean they had to be so condescending about it. And don’t even get Minghao started with a boy named Youngjin, that prick just _loved_ to push Minghao around like it was nobody's business. Minghao already knew Youngjin was going to same high school as him so he was already praying for the bully to get hit by a car or taken by aliens. Minghao walked up to the poster with the classes posted and found his class number, he was in D-2 a.k.a class horribly average and his mother was going to bitch about how he needed to bring his grades up so he can get into the honor classes, but Minghao knew that was never going to happen, school just wasn’t his thing. When Minghao got to class D-2, he sat in the seat closest to the back door, the faster he could get out of class the better. Unsurprisingly, most of the other students filled up most of the middle seats before slowly taking the front and back seats. Someone coughed to get his attention, Minghao looked up at the boy but stayed silent, no need to waste his breath on someone who would judge him for his heavily accent Korean.

“Is this seat taken?” The guy asked with accented Korean and an unnoticeable lisp. It caught Minghao off guard for a moment, another foreigner?

“Uhh, no?” Minghao honestly wasn’t sure if anyone claimed that seat, but nothing was there so he assumed it was empty.

“Okay, cool.” With that the other male sat down in the seat and placed his bag on the desk next to his. Minghao was about to go back to zoning out but the guy waved his hand in front of face. “Can you place your bag on the seat next to you?”

“Sure?” Minghao did what he was asked without any questions.

“Thank you, my friend would have killed me if I didn’t save a seat for his ‘not _boyfriend_ ’ boyfriend.” The guy giggled, Minghao didn’t know how to respond to that so he simply opened one of his new notebooks and started to doodle in it. “So what’s your name?” The boy asked.

“Xu Minghao, I mean Seo Myungho.” Minghao didn’t understand why his parents made him get a Korean name but he _never_ argued with his parents, knowing he would never win.

“Wait is it Minghao or Myungho?” The guy asked, but Minghao just shrugged his shoulders, not really caring what people called him. “Well, _Minghao,_ I’m BamBam.”

“Who names their kid BamBam.” Minghao said before he could stop himself but BamBam didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s just a nickname, my real name is too hard for people to pronounce.” Minghao raised his eyebrow, surely no one’s name is that difficult. “It’s Kunpimook Bhuwakul. I’m from Thailand.”

“Kunpimook Bhuwakul.” Minghao said slowly, BamBam nodded his head.

“You did surprisingly well but please call me BamBam. Where are you from?” BamBam was now adding his own doodles onto Minghao’s notebook, it was almost like they were friends now.

“China.” Came Minghao’s short reply, he would have liked to talk more but he was still uncomfortable with his Korean.

“Ohhh! We should visit sometime you can show me around.” BamBam ginned widely and went on and on about all the different foods he wanted to eat, Minghao couldn’t help but smile at the dude’s excitement.

“Nice too see you’ve made a new friend already.” A guy suddenly sat down in the desk next to BamBam’s and handed over the backpack to its original owner.

“This is Minghao, he’s from China.” BamBam pointed to Minghao. “Minghao, this is my best friend Yugyeom, and that’s Jeongguk but he likes to be called Jungkook.” Minghao didn’t even noticed the guy standing next to the desk next to his until BamBam pointed him out. Minghao quickly grabbed his backpack and Jungkook sat down, giving Minghao a shy smile.

“Thank you.” Jungkook said.

“N-no problem.” Minghao answered back, BamBam laughed loudly and Yugyeom tried to shush his friend.

“You guys are so awkward, it’s almost adorable.” BamBam said between gasps of air. Minghao rolled his eyes, Jungkook pouted, and Yugyeom only nodded in agreement.

“So, Minghao, when did you move here?” Yugyeom asked.

“Sometime Last year, I guess? The days sort of blended together, y’know.” Minghao leaned back in his seat and shrugged.

“I moved here around a year ago too.” BamBam said happily.

“Excuse me, but are these seats taken?” A guy asks Yugyeom and Jungkook, They shake their heads and the two dudes sit down. The last bell rings and the teacher finally comes into the classroom. Everyone quiets down as the teacher starts the normal “First day of school spiel.” Minghao zones out again and doesn’t even notice when the homeroom teacher leaves and the next teacher comes in to start their first lesson of the day. Minghao jumped when someone tapped him on the shoulder, he looked to his side and saw Jungkook point to something on the ground. There was an eraser next to his foot and Minghao was able to put two and two together, he gave the yellow chick shaped eraser back to Jungkook. Minghao noticed that everyone was taking notes so he decided to do the same, he skipped half a page and started to write down whatever was on the whiteboard. That was how it went until lunch finally rolled around.

“Hey can I borrow someone’s math notes?” Minghao asked as he pulled out his lunch box.

“You can borrow mine.” Jungkook offered as he and Yugyeom stood up.

“Thanks.” Minghao quickly started copying the notes.

“I’m surprised you were able to space out that… that deep? I mean, you were gone. I honestly thought you were sleeping with your eyes open.” BamBam said as he started to eat his own lunch.

“It’s my superpower.” Minghao smirked.

“That’s a pretty useless superpower.” BamBam mumbled.

“But it comes in handy.” Minghao placed Jungkook’s notebook back onto the dude’s desk and started to eat the lunch his mother made for him. “Where did they go anyways?” Minghao asked.

“Yugyeom was too busy to make their lunch today so they have to buy lunch.” BamBam said.

“Why does Yugyeom make Jungkook lunch?” Minghao didn’t know why he was so curious, maybe it was because he actually somewhat cared for these guys?

“Uhhh... look just between you and me, let’s just say Jungkook doesn’t have the healthiest of homes. His parents aren’t abusive but they aren’t caring either.” BamBam whispered softly, after that they changed topics as they waited for the other two to return but Yugyeom returned alone.

“Where’s Jungkook?” BamBam was definitely worried and it made Minghao worry as well.

“Nurses office… He’s okay, but the teacher made him go.” Yugyeom muttered, sitting back down.

“Was it Jaekwan again?” BamBam said the name with so much venom, it sent chills down Minghao’s back. Yugyeom only nodded, trying to hide his tears. “I swear one day, I’m going to get back at that asshole.”

“Whose Jaekwan?” Minghao nervously asked.

“Just some dick who thinks he’s the shit. He’s been messing with them since before I came along.” BamBam was rubbing Yugyeom’s back gently. “His family is super rich so he gets to do whatever he wants basically. There was a kid who tried to jump because of the shit Jaehwan did to her and he walked away scott free.” Jaekwan sounds almost exactly like Youngjin and this made Minghao even more disgusted, not only did he have to worry about Youngjin but now there was a new potential enemy on the horizon.

“Did you guys at least eat lunch?” BamBam asked.

“Yeah, we spotted Jaekwan wandering around the doors and decided it was best to eat in the lunchroom.” Jungkook said as he strolled into the classroom, with a busted lip and bandaids on his arms, he tried to play it off but Minghao could tell he was in pain. Yugyeom gently examined Jungkook’s arms, not really knowing what to do but Jungkook smiled at him and it helped calm Yugyeom.

“It looks like we weren’t the only people Jaekwan decided to mess with today. The dude who sits next to us and his friend were also in the nurse's office.” Jungkook informed them.

“Are they okay?” Minghao asked, he didn’t know them but no one deserves to get bullied by some assholes.

“I think so? One of them was banged up worse than the other one but he seemed to be playing it up, probably to avoid going to class. I honestly wanted to do the same but I couldn’t leave you guys.” Jungkook sighed.

“Then let’s go.” BamBam offered.

“W-what?” Jungkook looked surprised.

“Where would we go?” Yugyeom asked.

“We can’t just leave.” Jungkook said.

“Both my parents work during the day and if they do come home early we can easily sneak out of my window.” Minghao offered.

“It’s settled, to Minghao’s.” BamBam exclaimed, everyone got their bags.

“Are we really doing this?” Jungkook asked nervously.

“It’s only the first day no one cares.” Minghao shrugged.

“Wait, why are you grabbing those bags, BamBam.” Yugyeom asks.

“New friends!” Is all that BamBam says before bolting out the door. Minghao goes to follow and Yugyeom does the same but Jungkook mutters something to a girl before joining them.

“What was that all about?” Minghao asks, when Jungkook joins them.

“An alibi.” Jungkook says with a coy smile.

“You are so smart.” Yugyeom chirps. The bell rings when they reach the nurses office, they enter and to no one’s surprise the nurses is gone. BamBam is chatting happily with the two guys and they turn their head to see who entered.

“Sup.” Jungkook greeted.

“Hey.” One greets back, the other one just nods his head.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s get introductions out of the way so we can bounce when the hall monitors leave.” BamBam said excitedly.

“I’m Yugyeom.”

“Minghao.”

“Are you from China?” One of them asks, Minghao nods his head.

“Me to! I’m Sicheng but my friends call me WinWin.” It was oddly nice know Minghao wasn’t the only Chinese foreigner at this school.

“I’m Jaehyun. Are you sure it’s cool if we tag along?” He asked nervously, biting his bottom lip.

“I’m cool with it. The more the merrier, right?” Minghao was met with cheers from the others and with that the six of them went to Minghao’s house.

This slowly became a routine for the boys. Whenever one of them were beat up enough to be sent to the nurse’s office, all six of them would ditch school and go to Minghao’s house. The teachers knew about it but said nothing because they weren’t able to do anything about the bullying and pitied the boys. In return the boys always brought in ‘sick notes’ and tried their best to keep their grades up so they wouldn’t be held back. When February finally rolled around, it was like a breath of crisp freedom. No homework, no bullies, and no worries until the next school year. In a sense things did get better for Minghao, he had amazing new friends now. But things also got worse for Minghao, Youngjin had a larger possie that also included Jaekwan.

 

**~Year 2~**

“We definitely have to find somewhere better to hang out.” Jaehyun said as he leaned back in his chair. “No offense Minghao, your house is great...But.”

“No, I agree with you. I need some change in scenery. Plus my mom is starting to complain.” Minghao’s mother was ecstatic when she met Minghao’s friends for the first time, but they came over almost everyday and she sooned learned they weren’t the ‘perfect’ children she wanted Minghao to befriend. They didn’t care much for school and didn’t have big ambitions for the future and they had quite the foul mouths when they didn’t think she could hear them but sadly she could almost always hear them, seeing as they were a very rowdy bunch.  

“Where else can we hang at?” BamBam asked out loud and everyone quietly thought about places. BamBam’s house was usually crowded and he shared a room with his brother so they wouldn’t have any privacy, Yugyeom’s house was really far from everyone else's (Except for Jungkook’s) but they could go on the weekends, Jungkook and Jaehyun’s parents didn’t allow visitors, and they could only go to WinWin’s house on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when everyone in the house was gone so they could have privacy to say whatever they wanted without worrying about prying ears.

“What about the mall?” Minghao offered.

“Is it really worth the risk?” WinWin mumbled. There was a 50/50 chance they would run into Jaekwan and Youngjin’s gang at the mall, it was like they lived there. Sure there were smaller shopping centers but after awhile the shop owners would get annoyed if nobody buys anything.

“The arcade?” Jaehyun questions out loud.

“We would have to buy tokens.” Yugyeom answers.

“The weather it good during autumn and spring so we could hang out at the parks or something.” Jungkook says with a smile, there is a soft murmur of agreement.

“But what about the winter and summer? It’s too hot or too cold to do anything outdoors.” BamBam whined. Maybe if they all pray, the gods will bless them with very long autumns and springs until they’re out of high school.

“I guess we’ll just have to settle for bumming around someone’s house.” Jaehyun sighs out loud.

“There’s a dance studio near where I live…” WinWin offers.

“Doesn’t it require money to use one of the rooms?” Yugyeom asks. WinWin looks around before whispering softly.

“The building was remodeled recently so there are a few super old rooms that no one knows about. They’re kinda hard to get into and we’ll have to be sneaky but we can probably get away with it.” WinWin grinned widely.

“Let’s check it out after school.” BamBam says excitedly. “We can stop by Sonic on the way.” This had everyone even more hyped about the trip. The rest of the school day went surprisingly fast and lucky for them it seemed Youngjin and Jaekwan were busy with school work, thank god students in classes A-B got more homework since they were honor classes. This year Minghao and his friends were in class C-5, so better than last year but still horribly average. They follow WinWin to the dance studio, hands filled with half off drinks and soft delicious mints ~~(I really like the mints at Sonic, okay.)~~ The dance studio was called Twilight Shore and it was in the middle of a few other buildings. All the buildings were connected so the only way in was threw the front and back. But to get to the back, someone would first have to get through the narrow maze like alleyway because who ever planned out the placement of all the buildings in this city obviously didn’t believe in clean cut paths. People had a higher chance of getting lost in the alleyways and starving to death than being mugged.

“The only way into the room is threw the side of the dance studio building.” WinWin says as he leads everyone to a fenced off entrance into the alleyway.

“But all the buildings are like connected? How can the dance studio have a ‘side’?” Jungkook asked confused. WinWin made sure the coast was clear before he pushed on the fence, revealing that it was actually a secret door of somesort.

“You’ll see.” Was the only reply WinWin gave. Everyone quietly followed him through the maze like alleyway, silently taking in the sights around them, most of the walls were covered in various graffiti and other forms of street art. They had to go through another 4 secret fence doors before WinWin lead them to what is presumably the back of the buildings and to no one’s surprise all the builds are still connected with no ‘side’ to the middle building a.k.a the dance studio. But it did look like each building had its own walled off back area before entering the alleyway, and they were located in between the two walls that separated the dance studio back area from the other building’s back area.

“Did we take a wrong turn?” Yugyeom asked with a worried frown.

“Nope, just watch.” WinWin grinned as he walked up to the building, he crouched down and pushed on the buildings’ wall. Everyone had to take a moment to register what just happened. WinWin didn’t wait for them and simply ducked his head and walked threw the opening.

“You guys coming?” WinWin asked laughing at everyone’s shooked faces, slowly they all followed WinWin into the dark tunnel, somehow said boy had a flashlight on him and lead everyone to a normal door. WinWin opened to door then walked inside and turned on the lights. The room was surprisingly large, it was obviously a dance room with the full length mirrors on one side of the room, but it had a few couches against the opposite wall.

“Wow.” Jungkook gasped softly, the others could only nod in agreement.

“C’mon, let’s relax.” WinWin said as he sat on the couch. Everyone joined him and looked around the room, it was empty except for the couches and a few bookshelves.

“How does no one knows about this room?” Minghao asks, finally coming down from his amazement. “You would think someone would notice something off about the dance studio being smaller on the inside than the outside.” WinWin just shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe they just brushed it off or something?” Jaehyun offers with a small smile.

“Well whatever it may be, we got a cool hang out spot from it.” Jungkook says happily. “These couches are amazing.” Jungkook rests his head on Yugyeom's lap as he relaxes into the couch.

“We can plug our phones into the speakers to play music, but not to loud, I don’t know if this room is soundproof or not.” WinWin says as he cuddles closer to Jaehyun’s side. BamBam snorts at the two _‘not’_ couples beings lovey dovey, he gets up from the couch to the speaker controls and plugs his phone in. Chillstep floats through the room, creating an even more laid back vibe. They spend the rest of the day chilling in the newly named _‘twilight room’_ talking about everything and anything, Jungkook even took a few ~~(more like a ton of)~~ pictures with his beloved polaroid camera, at some point WinWin was able to convince all of them to finally do their homework. They left a few mintues before sun down so they could get out of the maze before it was completely dark. They walk together until they had to slowly start splitting off into smaller and smaller groups to get home. Minghao had to walk by himself when BamBam turned left onto his own street but Minghao only live about ten mintues away from the other boy so it wasn’t too bad. The twilight room from that day on became their main hang out spot and Minghao’s mother couldn’t have been more happy to have her quiet house back.

Spring turned into summer and it was going to be summer break soon. None of them signed up for the summer break school trip so that meant no Jaekwan and Youngjin or their friends for a week.

“Hey guys, you ready for summer break?” WinWin asked excitedly.

“I’m ready for graduation.” Jaehyun muttered, his cheek was bruised and he looked worse for wear but this time it wasn’t because of Jaekwan and his friends. Minghao wished he could help his friend but Jaehyun begged them to let him handle his family problems on his own, so with heavy hearts they did, not because he asked but because they didn’t know what else to do.

“I think we’re all ready to get the hell out of here.” Minghao sighed.

“Instead of going to the twilight room, me and Yuggs wants to show you guys this amazing place we found, but we may have to do something illegal. Unless you guys don’t like camping.” Jungkook said, quickly changing the bitter tone back to a happier one.

“Camping is on my bucket list, but I don’t know if we should be discussing _questionable_ activities on school grounds.” BamBam said as he side eyed the teacher talking to a student a few seats ahead of them.

“Right, I’ll tell you guys about it after school.” Jungkook whispered quickly. Yugyeom was gone due to a doctor’s appointment about his arm. The taller boy was running an errand for his mother when Jaekwan showed up out of nowhere and slammed Yugyeom into the wall, it was a hit and run, a ‘quick laugh’ for Jaekwan and his friends but the angle Yugyeom hit the wall twisted his arm in a weird angle. It had been painful enough to worry his mother, she let him rest the night but it was swollen in the morning so she rushed him off to the hospital before school started. Minghao and WinWin were walking back from the bathroom when Youngjin showed his ugly face.

“What do you want Youngjin.” Minghao wanted to bolt back to the classroom but Youngjin had two goons on either side of him. WinWin stood next to Minghao, sporting a similar look of disdain.

“What do you mean Minghao? I’m just simply standing in the hallway.” Youngjin smirked.

“Whatever.” Minghao grunted but instead of shoving his way through the bodies blocking his path, which would start a fight, Minghao took a hold of WinWin’s wrist and ran the other direction.

“Where the hell do you punks think you’re going” Youngjin yelled chasing after them. Fate seemed to be on Youngjin’s side today because Minghao and WinWin ran straight into Jaekwan and his goons. Both boys were wondering why they even try to get away from their bullies when it never works out for them in the end. When Jaekwan and Youngjin finally finish their fun, Minghao and WinWin were left on the ground bruised and bleeding.

“I hate school.” Minghao struggled to say between deep breaths.

“Everyone hates school.” WinWin wheezes out.

“Can we drop out?” Minghao really couldn’t take anymore of this bullshit.

“Just one and a half more years and we’ll be free.” WinWin grunted with fake positivity.

“I doubt college will be any better.” Minghao argued back.

“They have to mature at some point right? I mean everyone chills out during college… Plus they’re probably going to some high class fancy university, nowhere near the shitty average college we’re going to.” WinWin said, trying to reassure himself more than Minghao.

“Yeah you're probably right.” Minghao didn’t believe WinWin for a second but he wanted to help his friend calm down.

“Jesus christ, I found them!” BamBam yelled as he ran to their side. “Are you guys okay?” BamBam asked.

“We’ll live, did you tell the teacher the usual? I really just want to get out of here.” Minghao said bitterly.

“Yeah, let’s go. Do you need help walking?” Jungkook asked when he reached the group. Minghao took Jungkook’s offered hand and got onto his feet, he stumbled a bit but found his balance. Thank the heavens nothing was to damaged, mostly bruised.

“Are you okay Sicheng? Do you need to be carried?” Jaehyun was too busy fretting over his lover and distracting the others with the morbid adorable scene no one noticed someone walking up to them.

“Are you guys okay? What happened?” It was Taeyong from the 3rd year class A-1, Minghao only knew him because Jaehyun and WinWin often raved about him nonstop after the older had tutored them in a few of their subjects.

“We’re fine, don’t worry about us.” WinWin muttered, blushing slightly. BamBam snickered and nudged Jungkook gently with his elbow. Jungkook rolled his eyes but smiled softly. It was no secret that Jaehyun and WinWin had a mutual crush on Taeyong. Minghao thought it was cute.

“Well, at least let me escort you guys to the nurse's office.” Taeyong insisted. Everyone shared a look before nodding, and following the older to the infirmary. The teachers may have known about their ditching but the student body were none the wiser, seeing as the group of friends were ghosts when it came to everyone except Jaehwan and his gang. WinWin and Minghao sat down on a stiff bed as Taeyong let out a disappointed sigh when he noticed the nurse was out.

“Well it looks like I’ll have to treat your wounds, you three should head back to class.” Taeyong said while he dug around the drawers for the things he needed.

“But!” Jaehyun stopped when Taeyong gave him a look but the younger gave his best puppy eyes.

“Fine you guys can stay but it’s not my fault if the nurse or teachers gets mad.” Taeyong threatened.

“They never do.” WinWin muttered.

“What was that?” Taeyong asked softly.

“Nothing.” WinWin went back to picking at the bed, Taeyong sighed.

“Maybe I can help you guys with whatever is going on and don’t tell me it’s nothing.” Taeyong sounded desperate. “I hate it when you two show up to our sessions covered in cuts and bruises.”

“Look, I know you want to help but if the teachers and school staff can’t do anything about it, either can you.” Jaehyun squeezed Taeyong’s shoulder, the older looked at him in shock.

“What! You mean the teachers know what’s going on and they aren’t putting a stop to it?” Taeyong couldn’t believe his ears.

“They weren’t able to stop it when we were in middle school and they can’t stop it now but we’re used to it by now so stop worrying so much.” Jaehyun tried to reassure the older but it just made things worse.

“I-I-” Taeyong was about to argue but the door suddenly opened, the nurse came in and looked around the room.

“What’s going on?” She asked confused.

“Minghao and WinWin got hurt so Taeyong escorted us to your office, he was about to leave.” BamBam said with a smile as he pushed Taeyong towards the door.

“H-Hey!” Taeyong wanted to fight back but the nurse simply nodded her head.

“It’s best you head back to class, I’ll handle things here don’t worry.” With that the door was closed on Taeyong’s face.

“You should probably wait a few minutes before leaving.” The nurse said as she sat down at her desk, the boys nodded and did just that. After 15 mintues they left the school and headed towards the twilight room. Surprisingly Yugyeom was already there chilling on one of the couches.

“Wow you guys look like shit.” Yugyeom said. Looking up from his phone.

“You look like shit too.” Jaehyun threw back snickering. Everyone got comfortable on the couches and smooth jazz played in the background on the speakers.

“So what did I miss?” Yugyeom asked nonchalantly.

“Not much schoolwork wise, we got our scores back midterms. All of us passed.” WinWin informed.

“WinWin and Jaehyun got higher grades than everyone else.” BamBam teased.

“Probably because of Taeyong.” Yugyeom joined in on the teasing.  

“Which brings us to our next event.” Jungkook said, and this perked Yugyeom’s interest.

“What happened?” BamBam grinned as he started retelling the events that happened in the nurse’s office, once he was done, WinWin retold the actual events that took place as BamBam pouted.

“Wow that sounds pretty wild but in an underwhelming way? Like nothing crazy happened but it must have been unsettling.” Yugyeom stated.

“Yeah, I could really use some good news right now.” Minghao muttered.

“Oh! What about our summer break plan!” Jungkook asked in a cheerful voice.

“You mean the camping plan? That might be illegal?” Jaehyun tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy.

“You didn't tell them yet?” Yugyeom nudged Jungkook.

“It’s not something we can freely talk about when there’s teachers around, you know.” Jungkook pouted, crossing his arms.

“Hurry up and tell us these illegal plans?” Minghao was starting to get impatient.

“We found this super cool place in the forest a few miles away from our houses when we where hiking. It would make an awesome place to camp but walking and carrying all the gear would be a real hassle so we thought about packing it into Jungkook’s older brothers minivan and driving there.” Yugyeom said nonchalantly.

“But none of can drive.” WinWin says with a frown.

“Jungkook can drive, his older brother taught him before he y’know...” BamBam said.

“Would your parents mind if we took his minivan?” Minghao asked.

“They don’t even know we still have it.” Jungkook simply states.

“Then it’s settled, we’ll rest up and pack our shit this weekend and set off on monday. How long are we going to stay there?” Jaehyun askes.

“For as long as we want? I don’t know maybe two days? We can always go again later.” Yugyeom shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright, it’s a plan!” BamBam said excitedly, and with that the topic changed to something else. The weekend blew over and Minghao was frantically packing everything he needed the night before the trip. He woke up around the afternoon, an hour before the scheduled time pick up. Minghao took a quick shower and waited in the living room for Jungkook to arrive with the car. A simple “Here @Minghao” was all it took for said boy to grab his bag and rush out the door, into a clean smelling car.

“I’m surprised it’s so clean.” Minghao said as he threw his bag into the back with the other luggage.

“That’s what everyone else said.” Jungkook chuckled. “It can’t get dirty if no one uses it.”

“But it could use some better cds, no offense but these are sooo 2000 and old.” BamBam complained.

“I brought some cds. I also brought a portable stereo, y’know to spice things up.” Minghao offered, ass sicking up over the back seat as he dug through his bag for his cd holder. It was massive and held four cds on a single page. He didn’t have a lot but but the first few pages were filled up. “Here, pick whatever you want.” Minghao handed it over to BamBam, said boy flipped through the pages until he suddenly stopped.

“You made burn cds!?” BamBam gasped. “Wait, what’s up with these names? Summer of 2012, you made this last year? Oh! What’s on, Saturday Night Regrets? Sounds edgy as fuck.” BamBam continued to ramble on about the rest of the names.

“Hurry up and pick one.” Jungkook muttered, eyes focused on the road.

“Here, this one’s called, Tony the Tiger Beat Up My Dog.” WinWin handed the cd up to Yugyeom with a giggle.

“You guys should make your own burn mix cds if you’re going to make fun of mine.” Minghao grumbled with his arms crossed, pouting silighty.

“That’s an amazing idea! Do you have any extra blank cds? We can keep them in this case and they can be our car jams!” Jaehyun said excitedly.

“Yeah I have a bunch, I’ll give everyone some when we go home.” Minghao smiled brightly. The car was filled with music and chatter as they entered the forest. The path was rough but the minivan was able to get them to the camping area safely without any problems. The camping area was another story.

“What the fuck is this?” BamBam nearly shrieked.

“It’s an abandoned amusement park. Yugyeom shrugged.

“Bitch we’re going to die, let’s leave before ghosts come for our asses.” BamBam tugged his best friend back to the minivan.

“Stop being a pussy, lets go check it out!” Jungkook yelled.

“Wait, you guys haven’t gone in yet?” Jaehyun askes.

“Nope, we wanted to look around with you guys.” Jungkook grins.

“Can we even get in, is the real question.” Minghao walked up to the gate and examined the rusted lock keeping the gate closed, with a hard roundhouse kick he broke the lock.

“Show off.” Jaehyun snorted and Minghao stuck his tongue out at him.

“If we get dragged into hell I’m going to beat all your asses.” BamBam grumbled but followed everyone into the amusement park.

“Huh this is pretty underwhelming.”  WinWin said, looking around the open courtyard.

“Yeah I was hoping for… I don’t know, but it was certainly more than this.” Jungkook pouts. It looked like the amusement park was abandoned before most of the rides were built. There were a lot of empty food booths, a few game booths, a marry-go-round in the center, a small ferris wheel off to the side, a partly built roller coaster track on the other side, and a large open space in the back where other attractions were probably going to be built..

“Do you think there’s any food or prizes in the booths?” Minghao suddenly asked.

“Why would we want any of that?” Jaehyun looked at him with disgust. “It’s probably all moldy and shit.”

“Or it could be like twinkies and last forever.” Minghao argued back.

“We should build camp first and then explore the place, so we don’t have to build a tent in the dark.” Yugyeom said, stopping the argument before it went any farther.

“Fine.” Jaehyun and Minghao say at the same time. Everyone goes back to the car and starts grabbing bags of camping gear. They set up in the middle of the courtyard near the gate so if anything happens they can book it to the car as fast as possible. With the tent set up and a fire pit dug out, the boys start going to each stall and go threw all the nooks and crannies. Much to their disappointment, all the booths are empty, but on the brightside a few of the games work, like the ring toss, and they found out the bathrooms had running water. The only thing they couldn’t get into was a small building, the door was locked and impossible to kick in. When the sun started to set Jaehyun was able to get a fire going before nightfall. Everyone sat around the campfire on the folded chairs they brought, roasting marshmallows.

“I’m gonna go take a piss.” Minghao said as he walked away from the fire. He turned on the flashlight when it became too dark to see and walked to the bathroom. When he finished his business and left the restroom, the light from the flashlight caused something to sparkle in the distance. The sparkle came from something on top of the locked building’s door, he jogged up to the door and reached on top of the door frame, something cold touched his fingers and Minghao grabbed it, bringing it to his face.

“I wonder what’s taking Minghao so long?” WinWin asked, he was tempted to go look for their missing friend.

“Maybe he’s taking a shit.” Jungkook shrugs his shoulder.

“Or maybe he’s going to try and scare us.” BamBam looked around on high alert.

“Maybe a demon got him.” Jaehyun snorted, nudging BamBam’s side.

“Don’t even start with- HOLY SHIT!” BamBam shrieked when a bunch of lights suddenly blinked to life, everyone looked around the once dark amusement park, practically shitting themselves.

“Oh god! The demons are coming for our asses!” BamBam clung to Yugyeom, shaking the taller boy with all his might. “This is all your fault!” But before the older could murder his best friend, Minghao came running towards them.

“Guess who found the master power switch!” Minghao pointed his thumb at himself. “This guy!”

“So you did this? Not a demon, coming to steal our souls?” BamBam asked with a dark blush on his face.

“Yep!... Wait, why would you think demons were responsible for this?” Minghao tilting his head to the side.

“Haha, I was just joking, haha, this is so funny.” BamBam nervously laughed off his fears.

“Hey, do you guys think, the rides work?” Jungkook asked with wide eyes. No one answered but everyone ran to the merry-go-round in the center of the park. It wasn’t moving but WinWin messed with control panel and after a few switch flips and buttons pressed, the carousel started to move in a circle, the deformed animals even went up and down as they spun. It was surprising how much fun six teenage boys could have on a slowly spinning platform but their laughter filled the night sky. They tried the ferris wheel next and it also worked, but no one thought it through when they all hopped into a basket.

“How do we stop this thing?” Yugyeom asked once they were done admiring the view from the top.

“Someone has to stop it.” Jaehyun says. Everyone shares a look before he says “Nose goes.” Minghao ended up being the unlucky chosen one, he jumps out of the basket and lands in the wooden platform, scraping his knees against it.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook yells from the basket.

“Yeah!” Minghao yells back, he walks up to the control panel and waits for everyone to be at the bottom before turning the ride off.

“Well this was an exciting experience.” BamBam stretched as he yawned, planting the tired seeds into everyone. Soon they were all yawning and dragging their feet back towards the tent. Minghao finds the flashlight and leaves to turn off the main power. Everything is once again encased in darkness when Minghao returns, he crawls into the tent, where almost everyone is already settling down for the night and joins them. Minghao was looking forward to when they come back to this place. This year was just full of discoveries, first the twilight room and now the abandoned amusement park that still worked. Minghao had completely forgotten about school and all his troubles.

 

**~Year 3~**

Minghao was walking to school with Jaehyun, still slightly hungover from the ‘party’ they threw yesterday. They were sharing their last cigarette between the two, it was nasty habit they picked up near the end of their 2nd year when Jaehyun started stealing them from his parents to deal with his own stress. Who knew that bad habits could be picked up within a few months of bad decisions. It was after a really nasty fight with Jaekwan that lead to BamBam snagging a few beers from his house and a petty fight with Taeyong for Jaehyun to put the first cigarette to his lips. Like every other life choice someone made, everyone else followed along without question. Now they all smoked almost daily and got drunk on the weekends. Minghao’s mother knew something was up but other than her gut feeling, she was in the dark about her son’s life, just how Minghao wanted. All of this was just a bandaid to stop the bleeding until the cut scabbed over and healed. Once everything was _better,_ then Minghao would stop all these bad habits. Well, that was what Minghao often told himself but deep down he doubted anything could truly get better so he gave up and simply started to bend under life’s harsh grip. Minghao wasn’t lying on the ground taking the beating but he wasn’t necessarily walking with his head held high either. It more like floating down a river, he would try to avoid sharp rocks but didn’t sink if he did hit one.

“Shit, WinWin is already in the nurse’s office.” Jaehyun’s cursing brought Minghao out of his head.

“Should we run?” Minghao asked.

“Nah, WinWin says he’s fine, BamBam is with him.” Jaehyun took a long drag, finishing off the death stick. They walk onto school grounds and head straight to their classroom. Jungkook texted them earlier this morning that their classroom was C-2  and Yugyeom already saved everyone their seats near the back door. BamBam and WinWin walk into class just as the last bell rings and take the last two open seats. Their new homeroom teacher begins with the normal, “Welcome back, here are the rules of our school and what is expected of students,” speech. Minghao tunes it out like he did every year.

 

Minghao was laying on his floor, staring up at his spinning fan. His father has been bothering him about college since his last year of high school started and graduation was tomorrow. According to his mother the earlier you apply the higher chance you have to get accepted but Minghao couldn’t even imagine another year trapped at a desk let alone another four. Minghao honestly wanted to become one with his bed more than anything else, this year had been more stressful than the previous years. It also doesn’t help that his bullies seem to be everywhere now, before it was once or twice a week but now it seemed like every other day he would run into Jaekwan and his ugly mug.

“Can I just drop out?” Minghao muttered under his breath.

“You can’t give up now, graduation is tomorrow.” WinWin chriped from Minghao’s bed, causing the younger to jump.

“When did you come in?” Minghao yelled in surprise.

“You’re mother let me in, I guess I’m still her favorite.” WinWin smirked.

“That’s because out of everyone you’re the only one who wants to continue their education.” Minghao pouted. “The rest of us just want to… I don’t know, give up?”

“I honestly want to give up too but at the end of the day to get a decent life you need an education that involves going to some sort of college.” WinWin says bitterly, looking out the window wishing for something in the world to change. He didn’t know what but still hoped for a brighter tomorrow.

“Fuck that, I’ll show the world that I can live a great life without a college education. Just you watch.” Minghao snorts, there were two things that fueled Minghao’s willpower, food and spite.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you. Just don’t let your parents hear you.” WinWin smiled softly.

“Thanks WinWin.” Minghao hugged the older boy. “We should probably get going, the others might start drinking without us.” For once it felt like Minghao had a vague plan for his future.

 

Graduation had finally came and blessed their little group with a sense of freedom that they never felt before. They were truly free from all their high school problems and snickered when Jaekwan and his gang were forced to be civil with _all_ their victims, unless they wanted to be kicked out of the ceremony. When the students were finally free to leave, Jungkook made sure to do a quick photoshoot showing off their hard earned high school degrees. Minghao took a few solo shots for his mother and his father had never looked prouder of his son. Minghao was able to convince his parents to let him leave with his friends and promised to have a graduation dinner tomorrow night. Everyone laughed as they made their way to the twilight room, tonight they were going to get shitfaced on the best vodka they had. Everyone was two shots in when BamBam turned teary eyed.

“What’s wrong Bam?” Yugyeom wrapped his arm around BamBam’s shoulder with a frown.

“I’m moving back to Thailand soon.” BamBam sobbing now. “My family is going back and I can’t stay here on my own so I have no choice.”

“What!?” Jaehyun exclaims with wide eyes.

“We have to do something…” WinWin mumbled.

“But what can we do? All of us are dirt poor and I doubt our families would be willing to take him in.” Minghao muttered, he could feel a lump form in his throat.

“We can get jobs!” Jungkook yells, it was honestly the only choice they had if they wanted to keep their friend with them.

“I guess I can live here until we can afford an apartment.” BamBam hiccuped.

“Looks like we’ll have to start job hunting soon.” Jaehyun giggled. “But for now let’s celebrate! No more School and No more assholes!” Everyone cheered and they downed the bottle in no time.

“Do you think we should buy more?” Jungkook asked shaking the empty bottle.

“Fuck yeah!” Minghao said getting up. It was no surprise that all of them were able to keep their drinks down, seeing as they’ve been building up their alcohol tolerance over the year. They stumbled out of the maze and down the street towards a bridge that went over a large river.

“Maybe we should catch some fish.” Jungkook laughed out, leaning over the railing. Everyone was a few feet ahead of him and turned to look at the drunk boy so they could laugh with him.

“Why don’t you try?” Before anyone could do anything, Jaekwan ran up behind Jungkook and shoved him over the railing, laughing loudly. No one saw the bully and his friends following them but now that they were close, Minghao could definitely smell the alcohol coming off them. Yugyeom tried to jump in after his boyfriend but BamBam stopped him.

“It’s too dangerous to jump, we’ll go down and pull him out.” BamBam begged and Yugyeom didn’t answer, he was already running to the end of the bridge. Jaekwan and his friends were walking away with large grins on their faces. Minghao clenched his fists but ran after Yugyeom, their friend was more important. Yugyeom was standing in the shallow edge looking for any movement and BamBam was on the phone with the police, fearing the worst. Jaehyun, Minghao and WinWin join Yugyeom in looking for their friend when something surfaces near the middle of the river. Yugyeom doesn’t waste a moment and dives into the water swimming towards Jungkook’s motionless body. Jaehyun and Minghao are quick to follow and together they pull their friend to the dry edge of the river.

“Come on Jungkook this isn’t funny.” Yugyeom beggs with a broken voice, he’s gently slapping the boy’s cheek.

“Does anyone know CPR?” BamBam asks with a desperate voice. Jaehyun has to pry Yugyeom away from Jungkook’s body so Minghao could attempt to help Jungkook. It feels like forever when sirens finally approach them. Minghao is still trying to bring Jungkook back, when someone pulls him away from the cold body. They are forced to the side while paramedics look over Jungkook’s body, the police block their view and starts firing off questions. It’s when Jaehyun finally finishes his re-telling of the event when Yugyeom notices something’s off.

“Why haven’t they left with Jungkook yet?” Yugyeom frantically asks an officer. The man hesitates and looks to another officer.

“It seems that your friend did make it. He was already gone when we got here. I’m sorry for your loss.” It was completely silent but it sounded like waterfalls were roaring in Minghao’s ears. That was the last clear memory Minghao could remember from that night. Everything else was a blur: sitting down in the police station, his parents coming for him, saying goodbye to his friends, going to bed but not sleeping until he passed out from exsaightion. Minghao couldn’t leave his bed the next few days, spending it drifting in and out from reality. It wasn’t until Yugyeom broke down his bedroom door with everyone else following close behind that Minghao’s mind finally woke up from its fever dream.

“Jaekwan is getting away with murdering our best friend!” Yugyeom yelled with fat tears rolling down his cheeks, he falls on top of Minghao sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

“The police chalked it up to suicide, thanks to a generous tip from Jaekwan’s dad.” Jaehyun spits out, his fists were clenched so tight his nails were cutting his skin open.

“Jungkook’s parents aren’t pressing charges. His parents didn’t even care, they accepted Jaekwan’s money without batting an eye.” WinWin muttered, voice cracking when he started to sob as well. Minghao let this information sink in before he too started to sob with all of his friends. For once his mother didn’t complain about his friends staying over.

“When is the funeral?” Minghao’s mother asked gently when everyone finally left her house.

“Yugyeom is going to talk to them.” Minghao sniffed feeling tears build up in his eyes again. Turns out that Jungkook’s parents were just going to burn their son up and throw his ashes out. WinWin was able to convince them to let him take care of Jungkook’s funeral arrangements and with a lot of guilt tripping they were able to take Jungkook’s cold dead body from the morgue in a cheap coffin. It was a struggle but Yugyeom was able to drive the minivan with everyone in it, including the coffin, to the abandoned amusement park. Jaehyun and Minghao both dug a hole at the very back of the park the day before and they were the ones to reburry the hole. There were no words spoken, just stuttered breathing and unending tears. Yugyeom was the first one to softly speak up.

“Is this really happening? I’m not ready to say goodbye…” Yugyeom fell to his knees, BamBam knelt beside his friend but he knew nothing could make things _better._

“J-jungkook… He was- he was the one who came into my life at a time when no one mattered to me, not even myself and with one simple greeting everything changed… From that day on, I thought we could do anything together… I thought we were going to be together for the rest of our lives… But here we are…” Yugyeom couldn’t speak anymore, his throat was completely closed. They all sat there in front of Jungkook’s grave for hours, Minghao kept reading over the tombstone until the words stopped being words. The sun started to set but no one moved from their spot until it was completely dark. WinWin lead them back to the car using his phone’s flashlight. When they got to the car Yugyeom started the car and turned on the headlights. No one wanted to go home so they stayed and drank everything they brought: beer, vodka, whisky, tequila, wine and many others. Minghao didn’t know when he passed out but than again Minghao didn’t know if he was even alive anymore, he was so numb.

The next day he woke up to the afternoon sun shining into his face but that wasn’t what pulled him out of his slumber. Minghao looked around confused before his eyes landed on BamBam trying to wake Yugyeom up but the taller didn’t move. He crawled the short distance and regretted his decision immediately, the vile smell of vomit assaulted his nose, causing everything he drank last night to come back up. With an empty stomach Minghao finally made it to BamBam’s side, Yugyeom was still motionless and was covered in his own vomit. When Minghao placed his hands on to the youngers face, all he felt was ice. Minghao swallowed the lump growing in this throat.

“Bam…” Minghao croaked. “Bam, stop-” He pulled BamBam’s hands away from Yugyeom’s lifeless body. “Look at me Bam… I-I don’t think he’s going to wake up.” Minghao’s voice cracked, tears welling up.

“No! He- he has too.” BamBam was sobbing trying to pull out of Minghao’s hold. WinWin and Jaehyun were startled wake by BamBam’s loud scream.

“It’s my fault!” BamBam yelled. “I should have stopped him from drinking so much.” BamBam was leaning his head into Minghao’s chest when the other two joined them. They were silent, not knowing what to do and Minghao couldn’t blame them. What could any of them do, their friend was already gone. Minghao thought this was some form of cruel irony as he held BamBam close and let his own tears fall. WinWin and Jaehyun looked at each other before grabbing the shovels and headed towards Jungkook’s grave. Who knew they would be having another funeral so soon but maybe this was for the best, now Jungkook and Yugyeom could be together. Minghao let out a bitter chuckle at his own thoughts. He finally let go of BamBam and dragged Yugyeom by the armpits out of his own vomit, resting the body on the clean grass. Minghao dug through the car for all the water bottles he could find plus an extra shirt.

“What are you doing?” BamBam muttered, watching Minghao crouch down next to his best friend’s body with a wet towel.

“I doubt Yugyeom wants to be buried in his own vomit.” Minghao snorted as he wiped the youngers face and neck. Lucky for the two none of spew got into Yugyeom’s hair or on his pants. With a slight struggle BamBam and Minghao were able to change his dirty shirt to the clean button up Minghao found in the car. When WinWin and Jaehyun returned all four of them carried their friend to his grave. To both BamBam and Minghao’s surprise the other two had dug up Jungkook’s grave and opened his coffin.

“Jungkook wouldn’t mind and it’s better than burying him in the dirt.” Jaehyun shrugged. With a little effort they fit Yugyeom right next to Jungkook and in a sick sort of way, they look happy to be reunited. The coffin is closed for the last time and the hole is once again filled with dirt.

“We can bring another rock for Yugyeom later.” WinWin mumbled.

“What are we going to tell his parents.” BamBam asks. Unlike Jungkook, Yugyeom parents are going to freak out when their son doesn’t return.

“We’ll lie…” Minghao says, “We’ll tell them that after the funeral, Yugyeom said he was going home and took the minivan, while the rest of us walked home.”

“Is lying really better than telling them the truth? I mean what if they hold onto hope that he comes back?” Jaehyun looks into Minghao’s eyes.

“If we tell them, it’s going to be blown into a huge mess and he’ll be dug right back up and taken away from Jungkook. Do you really want to deal with all that?” Minghao said quietly, he was tired all of this, all he wanted to do was go home and sleep but he knew sleep would never come.

“I guess you’re right.” Jaehyun muttered. With one last look and mumbled goodbyes they leave the abandoned amusement park. The walk back home is long and silent, slowly they all part ways to go back home. The next few days are filled with policemen questioning them about their missing friend and Minghao almost loses it when Mrs.Kim accuses him and his friends of foul play but Mr.Kim is quick to apologize saying everyone was having a hard time with Yugyeom’s disappearance and recent loss of Jungkook.

“I’m going back to Thailand.” BamBam said as they stood in front of Yugyeom’s newly added tombstone. No one was surprised by his choice, who would want to stay in this shitty place. BamBam is the first to leave, he had a flight to catch. Jaehyun drags a tearful WinWin with him after they both hug Minghao. Minghao stares at the tombstones reading them over and over again, until tears blur his vision.

 **Jungkook**  

 **1997-2016**  

**He was a good friend**

**and a cute bunny**

**if we’re honest.**  

**Yugyeom**

**1997-2016**

**This friend knew how to**

**tear up the dance floor.**

**He was the brownie to the bunny.**

“I hate life.” Minghao whimpers out, letting the breeze carry his sobs to god knows where.

 

**~Year 0~**

It was roughly half a year after the deaths of his two friends and Minghao still hasn’t recovered from their passing. He was left broken and lost with nobody to help him out of his misery. Minghao didn’t only lose Jungkook and Yugyeom but also BamBam, Jaehyun and WinWin. His only friends all left him but he couldn’t be mad at them, he to wanted nothing more than to leave this hell hole. Minghao woke up in a bed with a naked woman in his arms, he couldn’t recall the night before but he assumed he had a good time. Anytime he isn’t haunted by his friend’s faces is a good time, however it was also a nightmare. All Minghao really wanted was to go back to the old days, when he had friends and they were happy, when things were _better._ Minghao got out of bed and searched for his clothes, praying the girl he slept with wouldn’t wake up. When he got home his mother was in the living room watching t.v.

“Welcome back Minghao, have you signed up for college yet?” His mother always asked this whenever he came home, which was why he tried his best to never come back unless he needed something.

“No.” Minghao said, causing his mother to go on another long rant about the importance of education and how he was going to end up as a failure. Minghao ignored her and walked to his room.

“If you don’t apply for the next semester than we will have no choice but to kick you out.” His mother yelled before he closed the door.

“You might as well kick me out now.” Minghao muttered under his breath. Whenever he thought about school, all he could remember were the times Jaekwan and his friends beat the crap out of him. “No thank you.” Minghao laid on his bed staring up at his ceiling, trying to block out his thoughts. Nothing mattered anymore because nothing he did made things _better._ Minghao tried to keep in touch with BamBam but the phone bill was too expensive and he knew BamBam had to fix himself before he could help anyone else. Jaehyun basically shut down after BamBam left and didn’t even respond when either Minghao or WinWin tried to make him do something other than sleep. WinWin just disappeared one day and Minghao hasn’t heard anything since but he assumes that he’s alive seeing as Jaehyun had disappeared a few months after him, leaving a simple goodbye note on his bed saying he was going to live with someone. It seemed like everyone was doing their own thing to get better while Minghao was covering his wounds with old band-aids that lost their adhesiveness a long time ago. He drowned himself in alcoholic drinks and forgot his loneliness in his many one night stands. Everything was okay until he sobered up and it was time for him to leave his faceless lovers at the crack of dawn. Life was blurring past him but he was stuck in the past, unable to move forward. When the time finally came for the next semester to start, Minghao already had all his belonging packed in the back of the car his uncle bought him as a “sorry for losing all your friends but congratulations on graduating.” gift. His mother begged him to reconsider his decision and just go to college but Minghao had already made up his mind a long time ago. His father handed him an envelope and told him to not come back until he has made the right decision. Minghao had searched online for the cheapest apartments the night before and found a rundown place that offered the first three months free. Minghao spent those three months in absolute bliss, he forgot all his worries and just went wherever the river lead him. It wasn’t until his money ran out and his first rent payment was coming up, that his seemingly perfect world came crashing down.

“Okay, don’t panic. No more drinking and no more fucking.” Minghao muttered as he rocked back and forth. “All I have to do is find a job, simple enough.” except it wasn’t that simple, all the places he applied for ignored him for struggling college students trying to pay tuition. Minghao didn’t know what he was going to do but fate finally decided to be merciful. A little family run pizza shop was looking for delivery boys and Minghao was accepted after a nerve wracking interview. Now Minghao work every possible hour at Angelo’s Modern Pizza, just to make rent. It wasn’t ideal but beggars can't be choosers and Minghao honestly liked working there. Sure, some of the customers were rude but he got to get quick peeks into other people’s lives and he learned that he wasn’t the only one suffering. That somehow made him feel better, maybe he wasn’t all alone on this miserable planet. His boss Angela was really nice and the owner Angelo was able to relate to Minghao’s struggle of finding a place in this world. A Year went by and Minghao finally felt like he could breathe again. Nothing was _better_ per se but things were changing, Minghao was changing, he was no longer the rebellious teenager who wanted nothing more than to take his friends with him to paradise; he was a broken adult who wanted to slowly glued all his pieces back together instead of covering them in temporary solutions. Minghao was too scared to think about the possible future and his life was a long ways away from ‘good’ but he didn’t care anymore, from this day on Minghao was going to live life carefree.

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel is finally here! It took me forever to decide if I wanted Jungkook and Yugyeom to die since in the original it wasn’t clearly stated that they died but it was kinda implied but in the end I killed them off. I’m so sorry! I do plan on making a sequel oneshot since I honestly really like this Au so keep an eye out for that. I really hope you enjoyed reading my work!!!! Comments are greatly appreciated but I understand if you don’t want to. 
> 
> *p.s. I didn't edit this so if there's any mistakes, I'm sorry!!!


End file.
